Degran - A Steven Universe FanFiction
by Emerald's Glare
Summary: A male Gem, on the run from Homeworld, finds himself on earth, and with the Crystal Gems. Betrayed by Homeworld he seeks to not only improve his power but to plan a way to make Homeworld pay. [I do not own any of the characters from "Steven Universe" or any part of the franchise, and I do not claim otherwise. ] {This is my first story, please tell me what you think.}
1. The Arrival

Thomas Clemons- Degran's Arrival Story

Degran's Arrival

Throughout gem history there were rumors of elite warriors sent to the more hostile planets that homeworld wanted under their control. These soldiers were so concealed that any tale of them is believed to only be legend, there's no evidence, no witnesses, nothing to bring any real truth to the stories told by many elder gems. After a few decades of such folk tales many of the younger bred gems started seeing them as stories made up to simply make exploration missions more exciting.

One day a librarian gem, one of the newer generation, started inspected the building to make sure no one was on the premises so she could close up the building. After doing so she began to walk around and make sure all files and physical logs were back in their original places, but one, there was a white label, no name, no file number, nothing, almost as if it was freshly made and didn't even belong... As she opened it up, what she saw almost didn't seem real. It was a military case file, it contained a picture of a gem, their characteristics and occupation. She closed the file without even taking in any of the information, and greatly considered if she even should. Should she report it? Destroy it? She wasn't exactly sure if there were any consequences for reading it considering she found it on her jobs property. "Ah what the hell", she said to herself as curiosity over ran her, as she opened the file once again, she caught herself staring at the picture, it was a male? How could this be? He had green eyes, and a look of anger so strong it could kill alone. Before she could read anymore she heard a noise behind her and with unnatural speed she closed the file and turned around, and to her surprise, she saw nothing. She continued looking around "Anyone there?" she asked the eerily quiet building. In response there was another noise that made the inexperienced gem screech and fall to the floor dropping the file as well, looking around in shock she began hearing, knocking? No, footsteps, getting louder with every thud. She couldn't decide whether to run for the door or to the office and call for help, but she realized she had no time for either as she looked over to a far off table and felt a chill run through her body...

"Umm, excuse me, w-w-we are c-c-closed", the librarian stuttered in fear. There was a figure sitting at the table, wearing a cloak, the only thing she could see were green eyes staring back at her in silence. She was so scared she couldn't even process her thoughts, "What was this gem doing and what was there intent?" she began thinking to herself. She eventually arose to her feet and spoke again "Hello? Are you okay?" she asked, this time the gem responded, but not with words, they lifted their hand and in it was the file she was reading. She looked to the floor quickly and was in shock to see the file wasn't anywhere in sight, as she looked up the stranger sat the folder on the table and slid it forward, as if asking her to come read it, after what seemed like an eternity of small and timid steps she made it to the table and carefully opened the folder, she looked at all the characteristics information and noticed most of it was blacked out, as if it wasn't meant to be read, it was meant to be discarded.. She almost retreated to her gem out of fear when the stranger spoke "I need to get off Homeworld, and I think you can help me." The stranger said. As the librarian could only stare in shock….

ON EARTH

It's a sunny day with a few clouds in Beach City, Steven and Amethyst are enjoying some breakfast Garnet whipped up, while Pearl was on the beach sparring with her holo-self. It's almost unusual there has been no gem occurrence requiring their attention today, they don't think much of it but being a day off. Pearl finishes up her training and heads inside and out of anxiety to test her skill asked Garnet if there was a mission of any sort that needed to be handled. Garnet pointed to the sink where Steven and Amethyst had finished stacking the last of their food stained morning trophies. Pearl gave a droll stare at the enormous amount of dishes that she had just been tasked with cleaning, but she was a little relieved when Steven offered to help as he always did, he was just so kind hearted and helpful. Pearl began running the water and Steven grabbed the soap, while Garnet went and sat on the couch trying to see if there was anything that they would be needed for, she sensed something, but it didn't seem close. In fact it was something in far reaches of space, but she figured she probably was just thinking too hard and decided to take a break on the visions. Steven and Pearl had just finished with all the dishes, when Connie came knocking on the screen door.

Steven had walked up the stairs to his "room" with Connie close behind while Pearl made her way over to the temple door and entered her room. As the door closed shut Garnet decided to do another sweep of the globe to check if there were any Gem related disturbances. She once again found nothing wrong, but something out of place, she tried to focus in on what the source was, but like last time it was something out of their reach, except it was nowhere near as far as it was last time. A comet? Asteroid? Something was coming, but she couldn't help feel that this wasn't a natural object headed towards them. She tried to shake the feeling off and decided to get some fresh air, it was a nice day might as well enjoy it…

ON HOMEWORLD

Sitting in an interrogation room on a base not far from where she works, the scared librarian Gem awaits her questioning, not realizing the kind of trouble being in one these rooms actually meant, she tried to keep her composure at all costs, at least those were her thoughts before another Gem suddenly came into the room, swinging the door with so much force she could've she felt the vibration from the collision. The Gem was large and orange with long white hair, "Surely a Gem warrior." the librarian thought.

"I have questions, you have answers, I don't have a lot time and even less patience so don't lie to me. What's your name and occupation?" Demanded the soldier.

"My name is Topaz, I'm the newest Archive Manager for the Engineering Corps." Said Topaz.

"The Gem that spoke to you is a fugitive to Homeworld, and you can be tried as an accomplice for providing the ship. Only your full cooperation can get you out of that situation. Where is that ship headed?" asked the soldier.

"To a far off planet, Earth... Yes that was the name..." answered Topaz timidly. Fugitive? Accomplice? This is not good, I'm going to be executed for treason because of this, thought Topaz.

After a few moments of an intimidating stare, the orange gem spoke.

"Ok you're free to go, you don't speak of this place, or what's going on to anyone, follow those rules and you'll face no further threat. You do, and you'll see me again real soon." Said the soldier as she walked out of the room.

Topaz sat for a moment, not wanting to risk running into the gem again. After a while she stood and headed for door, head rattling and trying to calm down after that, she continued down the hallway she had come through and walked out of the establishment as if nothing ever happened. She couldn't help but laugh to herself about the whole thing, just overly happy she didn't face further repercussions, as she continued walking home.

Jasper (For those that don't know the orange Gem) headed for her ship to begin hunting her target. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, she herself couldn't even believe this Gem existed, she thought all those stories and legends were false, myths created for a little entertainment, how wrong she was..

EARTH

Steven and Connie are on beach talking about a medieval book they read together, Pearl is in her room practicing her sword combat skills, Amethyst asleep on the couch from boredom. Meanwhile, Garnet is giving another attempt in trying to see what this object is, it is still too far for her to get a clear view of what it could be. Even worse, a sunny day started becoming cloudy abnormally fast, Steven and Connie came inside as it started raining, and then the thunder and lightning followed.

"How did a storm develop so quickly?" Connie asked.

"Something's not right..." Garnet responded

After a few minutes the storm didn't get any worse but the occurrence was still unknown. Steven and Connie were continuing their conversation from earlier while Garnet searched for answers, she closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could on the object, this time, she got an entirely different result.

She saw darkness, just pitch black, eerie darkness, after what seemed like hours she saw a light. It became brighter and brighter until it eventually became blinding, after a split second she was in the temple, on the couch where she was before she entered her vision. But nothing was how it should be, it was sunny outside, she could hear water splashing on the beach, the gulls in the distance, it was almost relaxing... Almost. Where were Steven and Connie? Amethyst was next to me on couch asleep, and where is she? This was clearly not real, but a vision she got sucked into. She stood up and approached the screen door and looked outside, not single soul was in sight, not even the gulls she heard only mere seconds ago. She figured she'd head to her room to see if everything was the same there, as soon she as she turned around she summoned her gauntlets and took a fighting stance…

In front of the temple door was a figure, cloaked and silent. Under hood she could make out green, glowing eyes.

"Who are you?!" Garnet yelled.

The stranger remained quiet, instead lifted his hand into the air, and suddenly the wooden beam above Garnet came down. She barely dodged it and quickly took her stance again. But the stranger was gone. Garnet continued looking around to locate the enemy in her home, for a while she thought it was fake, but the large wooden beam at her feet reminded her this definitely wasn't just her imagination. After a few more minutes she put her gauntlets away and walked outside, looking around she found one thing to be true, wherever she was there was only her and this stranger, didn't know who it was or what they wanted, or why she was even here. She thought about her room again, and decided to make that her next destination, she turned around for the door and there the stranger was, before Garnet could realize what was happening she was levitating, the stranger made a pushing motion and without even making contact Garnet flew over the railing and started tumbling in the sand. She quickly got to her feet and summoned her gauntlets, the stranger jumped down from the deck and stared.

"Who are you?!" Garnet yelled again.

The stranger remained quiet, his right hand began to raise to the side, and something was in it. A weapon, as Garnet examined it, it was a sword, almost all black, except for the edge of the blade, it was a bright green, matching the eyes of the wielder. It was a rather exotic weapon.

"What do you want?" Garnet asked

She predicted she might be doing more fighting than talking. The stranger took a small step forward and with incredible speed dashed forward, it was unfortunately too fast for Garnet to react too. The stranger had her by the throat and was lifting her off the ground, she swung a fist with all her might connecting perfectly with their head but they barely even flinched at it.

"Why are you doing this?!" Garnet yelled in her struggle.

The stranger raised their blade just above their hand, at her throat, she could feel the sharp edge at her neck. He held it there, but nothing happened.

"I'll see you soon." The stranger said.

Garnet looked into their eyes and found herself no longer within a grasp, no sword at her throat, but falling. Spiraling down into a green abyss, nothing to grab, nothing to stop her from falling, the green turned to black, she no longer knew if she was falling or floating through an empty space, she closed her eyes tight, she tried to focus on home, on her friends, on Steven…

When she opened her eyes she could see everyone sitting over her, she was laying on the floor, the vision must have affected her in real time. It was dark out, she knew she had been out for a while.

"Garnet can you hear us?" Pearl asked.

"Garnet talk to us, what's wrong?" Steven yelled.

Garnet couldn't get words together, she was still stuck on what she had seen, she feared that person in her vision, had something to do with that object in space. As she tried to get her head back on straight, she stood up and walked over to the couch.

"What happened?" Amethyst asked.

"I saw... Something." Garnet finally got out.

"Saw what? What was it?" Steven blurted out.

"It was a person, they were wearing a cloak, I couldn't see anything but their bright green eyes, and, they almost seemed like a Gem of some sort." Garnet said.

"A Gem?" The others all asked in unison.

Garnet began explaining that she was searching for anything around the globe that needed their attention when the vision started, as she was telling the story the other kept looking at each other, not knowing how to react to such events.

"A sword and he didn't use it against you at all?" Pearl asked.

"No, after he placed it at my throat, that's when he spoke, then I fell and ended back in reality." Garnet explained.

"So whatever this object is in space could be the cause of this nightmare you went through." Pearl stated.

"I'd rather not try and look for it in a vision again, that was rather disturbing." Garnet said.

"No, we wouldn't want you to go through that again. All we can do for now is wait in the meantime, right?" asked Steven.

"Seems like it." Pearl agreed.

As everyone went their separate ways, Pearl stayed to keep an eye on Garnet, Amethyst went to her room for a while. Steven and Connie went to Greg Universe's car wash for her parents to pick her up, as they were walking across the beach Connie began to star gaze, Steven couldn't help but join her, as the thousands of dots were just a sight to see.

"It's so peaceful." Connie stated.

"It is, they're so beautiful." Steven said, averting his gaze her.

Steven didn't realize he was staring, to him she was even more beautiful than the stars themselves. He felt his face run hot when she turned and saw him gazing at her, she stared back, only she was slowly leaning closer. They both closed their eyes, and leaned closer and closer…

BOOM!

They both looked at the beach where there was now a house sized object on fire, and sitting in a large crater on the shoreline.

"Is that... A ship?" Steven asked.

"I think so…" Connie asked.

Steven looked towards the temple where the three Gem warriors were already running break neck speed to examine the scene, the ship was half way in the water, and was mostly ablaze, the Gems could only stare at the sight, knowing exactly what it was, and where it was from. Steven and Connie finally made it to the scene.

"That look scares me." Steven said.

"What look?" Pearl asked.

"That nervous look you all have, what is this thing?" Steven asked.

"It appears to be a star fighter, from homeworld. And someone had to be piloting it." Garnet said raising her fist, determined to change the outcome of her vision.

Lion made his way to the others, Steven quickly retrieved Rose's sword from his mane and handed it to Connie, then summoning his shield.

Looking at the cockpit where their enemy was supposedly sitting, it was filled with smoke, nothing could be seen. Until it opened, a large cloud of smoke was released and a figure began to come from it, stepping over the debris and down onto the beach.

"Just like the vision..." Garnet said in a low tone. Unknowing that Pearl heard it.

"We are the Crystal Gems! We demand to know who you are!" Pearl shouted.

"Steven, make sure everyone gets as far away from the beach as possible." Garnet instructed.

Steven nodded and hopped on Lion's back, Connie did the same and they were off. The cloaked being was now standing straight in front of them, watching them. All they could see were glowing green eyes staring back at them from under the hood.

"Who are you?!" Pearl yelled again.

"You won't get an answer, if it's like the vision they will stay silent." Garnet explained.

"Then I guess we beat it out of them." Amethyst suggested.

"Amethyst, NO!" Garnet exclaimed, but it was too late.

Using her Spin Dash move Amethyst flew towards the being only to be caught by her neck in their hand.

"LET HER GO!" Pearl screamed at the top her lungs and dashing forward at their foe.

Garnet found herself frozen, for the first time not knowing what to do. Pearl twirled her spear between her fingers and angled to attack but found herself no longer being on the ground…

"Pearl..." Garnet whispered.

Pearl was levitating in the air, the being had a telekinesis ability just like in the vision. But her friends weren't in the vision, what did that mean…? There was no time to think about it, her friends were in danger and she needed to act. She ran towards the being, immediately having Pearl thrown at her, too fast for Garnet to react they collide and fly back from the force of the throw. Amethyst summons a whip and makes an effort wrap the being's foot but it gets caught before it could reach its destination, the stranger pulled the whip from her hands and launches her toward her friends knocking them back to the ground.

"This isn't going well." Amethyst choked out, in pain from being thrown.

The being lifts a hand, and summons a green ball of energy, looks up towards the Gems for a moment, before he threw it as if it were a baseball right at them. A loud explosion is heard, and smoke clouds cover the impact, the being waits to confirm if the targets were destroyed. To his shock they were not, there was a very large pink circle with a star in the center.

"A shield? The being thought.

The small boy was standing behind it with hands against it, almost holding it up, it broke down into a smaller version of its former glory and seemed to be latched to his arm. Seemed about time to show them what a real weapon looked like.

As in Garnet's vision the stranger brandished a black Katana with a light green edge to it, they all stared dumbfounded at the blade and hurried to get into a battle stance. The stranger did the same, placing both hands on the hilt of the blade, and centered it with their foes. This time Garnet would test a theory, everything in her vision has proven true, now she was ready to play a dangerous game.

Garnet watched the stranger's feet, as soon as they took a small step she knew what was coming, they would dash forward with unbelievable speed and strength. And just as planned, the stranger took a preparation step and Garnet moved her gauntlets to block and within the blink of an eye the strangers sword clanged and she knew it had worked. But then she thought to herself… Now what?


	2. Chapter 2

Thomas Clemons – Chapter 2 - Degran Makes New Friends

New Friends

It was apparent Garnet was the only one that had the slightest clue what this being was capable of, but it seemed even with that knowledge she was at a loss. She felt time slow around her, she could see the Being recoiling from their attack, but they were so unpredictable even she didn't know what to do against them. She knew she was running out of time, and that the next attack was coming. All she could do was brace herself for what was to come. But to her surprise her attacker withdrew from the fight, leaping backwards they put some distance in between them and the Crystal Gems, and what was even more unexpected they turned away and looked towards the sky.

Garnet was so confused she actually looked at the others to see if they shared the same confusion, it gave her a little comfort to see they did. While they didn't know what was happening but didn't dare let their guard down, their opponent was fast and powerful enough to strike them down from where they stood. It was Steven that looked to the sky, hoping to figure out why this invader was acting weird all of, after a few moments he noticed a bright light, almost exactly the same as when he and Connie were star gazing before this battle.

"Guys, look up." Steven warned.

The Crystal Gems all looked up and almost in sync they cringed at the bright dot that seemed to be getting closer each second they stared at it, maybe the stranger knows something about it.

"You think he knows what it is?" Steven asked.

"He seemed to notice before we did, but there's no telling." Pearl responded

"Why is he just staring at it? He left the fight and everything." Amethyst spoke worriedly.

"Just be ready for anything." Garnet said.

It didn't take very long before the bright light was a very well known, and familiar object. Garnet could look at it and tell exactly what it was after a brief minute to think. To see this light coming right for them, following the arrival of the invader before them. But none of them could fathom who, or what else was coming.

They all almost jumped from fear when the invader finally moved again, after the eerily long pause in events, the stranger put away his weapon, he then placed his foot back and planted it in the ground, and his hands took a position as if he was holding a small ball. Except in a few seconds he was holding a small ball, a green ball fluctuating with energy and power. Steven stepped in front of the crystal gems ready to expand is shield, but it wasn't necessary, the stranger kept his eyes locked on the light in the sky. The ball was growing in size and brightness, it was now the size of a basketball, and common sense would tell anyone it was far more dangerous than its size let on. After a few more moments of being still he began to make a motion, it was time.

With tremendous strength the stranger with both hands sent the orb of light reeling through the dark skies, it moved so quickly and its results were just as fast… There was a huge amount of light produced from what can only be thought as a collision. Yes, that ball hit something, and the explosion was violent, it took maybe a minute before it was actually close enough to see it with naked eye, it was a massive object falling towards the surface of the ocean.

"Is that a giant hand?" Steven had whispered to himself so no others would hear.

It was obvious this ship was a good ways away from the surface, as to how the stranger was able to hit with such precision, and do such critical damage was almost fascinating if it wasn't for the fact he was trying to kill them. After a moment of anticipation the ship finally smacked the surface of the ocean and began its descent into the dark abyss below. And the moment the Gems dreaded was finally here, the stranger's attention was turned back to them, he faced them and crossed his arms. He stood there, watching, waiting.

"What do we do?" Steven asked, his fear being obvious in his tone.

Garnet put her guard up and kept her eyes on the stranger. The others followed suit, knowing a fight was coming and all they could do was prepare for it. As the Gems were psyching themselves up for battle, the stranger stood there for a few seconds then started… backing up? He took exactly ten steps back then uncrossed his arms.

"Wha?" Pearl asked.

"Don't let your guard down, he's still deadly from this distance, you saw what he did to that ship." Garnet reminded them.

Then what he had been waiting for smacked down right in front of them leaving a tremendous crater in its wake. A large green sphere, at first glance it could've been mistaken for an expensive beach ball, except this one would disappoint your average beachgoer. It slowly went from green to a bright white and began to change its shape, until it revealed its cargo. A tall being with long flowing white hair, and wearing what seemed to be a cape. Now with another unknown being invaded the planet, each of the gems were worried if they would be able to defend Earth much longer. The second invader after a good long look at the cloak standing in wait, turned to face the crystal gems, then this being was a little more recognizable.

It was a Jasper, a large and very aggressive breed of gems, built to suppress their opponents with sheer strength and force. The jasper's presence worried most of the Gems but not Garnet, her confidence could never be belittled just because someone is bigger. But just as if they didn't even matter, the Jasper turned to face the cloak again, because to Jasper they were not a priority. Jasper fixed her eyes on the ship debris, still in flames on the shore, it was hard to tell if that was the transport her target had taken. But whether or not she could tell, the tracking signal lead her here, and the being in front of her matched her target description.

"Did you think we wouldn't track that ship?" Jasper asked.

The cloak gave no response, just a piercing stare, and with those bright green eyes it was almost eerie.

"You must not be as smart as I thought to think you'd get away so easily." Jasper insulted

She was again met with a silent stare. Even the crystal gems were just a little put off by the cloak's silence.

"That cloak is pointless, I've seen your face. Degran." Jasper almost spat the name.

The Crystal gems all gave each other a look of confusion, now knowing the invaders name, they felt a little curious to know more.

Degran lifted a hand, from instinct the gems thought he held the sword and they raised their guard. His hand was empty, he grabbed his hood and lowered it, and his face was now visible, well somewhat since it was night time.

The Gems stared in awe at the sight of their attacker, it was a small victory considering his identity had been concealed for so long, they have the Jasper to thank for exposing him. But upon looking at him for a moment, they notice just how blank his face was, it gave nothing away, it was frightening how calm he was appearing to be.

"Better, now I can see who I'm beating into the ground." Jasper said with amusement.

Degran's posture and expression almost oblivious to the threat. Garnet could tell the others were full of fear, Garnet was actually anxious to see this battle, wondering if the Jasper fought as hard as she talked. She knew no two gems are the same, this Jasper may or may not be stronger than those she's encountered in the past, she'll have to wait and see.

The Jasper bared her fists and spawned her weapon, only it wasn't a weapon in the sense Garnet had expected. It was a large golden helmet, it had a visor to protect her eyes and nose gem, while the top of it was what seemed to be like and unbreakable hammer to bash her opponents into submission. It seemed very lethal fight against for someone like Garnet since she was a hand to hand gem, but Degran uses edged weaponry, how does she stand a chance?

Now it was Degran's turn to draw, he lifted his hand straight out to his side, in a flash of bright green light the weapon of the ages was once again in his palm. His sword alone made it seem like a one sided fight, he maneuvered the sword so he had a back handed grip. He might not even be using it like previously thought.

In the blink of an eye the Jasper had used her spin dash move, it was fascinating her and amethyst shared a common attack, but looking at the Jaspers version there was noticeable difference between the two, the Jasper's attack had spawned an aura, and she was in flight, it was clear her form was more superior. As she neared Degran he side stepped and avoided the attack. The Jasper quickly descended tried again, this time unfurling from her ball form to try an attack mid-flight, she cocked her hand back to strike, only to be caught by Degran. He was strong enough to not budge from his spot, but had completely stopped the Jaspers forward motion, in a blur his foot left the ground and made contact with the jaspers chest, she went reeling straight up into the air. Annoyed she's already losing this fight she spun up again and pushed with all her might, she flew towards the ground with tremendous speed, she was satisfied to hit her mark, her helmet hit Degran right in the chest and flattened him to the ground. His expression turned to a barely noticeable frown, he held up a hand and before Jasper knew what was happening she was blasted with an energy beam and flew head first into the water.

"Uhh Garnet, I don't think we're strong enough to take either one of these Gems on." Steven said timidly.

"Yeah, these two mean business, and I don't think we're going to like who wins either way." Amethyst said.

Garnet could only think, they were right, they were not at a strength level that could stand against either of the two brawling in front of them.

"We stand ready, if they become a threat to us, we'll do our best. Even if it's futile, we'll give it everything we've got." Garnet said with the utmost confidence.

The others nodded and held their weapons high, inspired, and ready to fight.

Jasper began to emerge from the water, with a look of rage that couldn't be matched. She walked until she was only a few feet from Degran, she put her fists up for a fight, and removed her helmet. It was going to be a fair fight, Degran put away his hands up, ready for what was to come.

"What's going on?" Amethyst asked.

"They just gave us the perfect time to strike." Garnet said, leaping forward. The others not far behind her.

Garnet landed, facing Degran, while the other landed and faced Jasper. It was going to be a long night of brawling. Garnet put her hands up to match Degran's, while the others spawned their weapons to take on the orange brute.

Jasper didn't have the patience for interference, she rushed forward with all her strength to strike the gems down. Her first target was Pearl, believing that a Pearl would never stand a chance against a real warrior, to her disbelief this pearl was no fool. Pearl dodged the flurry of fists coming at her with such grace it made Jasper boil over with anger.

"I'm tired of these games!" Jasper exclaimed.

She used her spin dash and flew forward, instead of trying to hit pearl head on, she flew just to her side, and right before reaching her uncurled and extended her arm catching pearl's throat in her hand. As pearl was lifted off the ground, Jasper's arm was wrapped up by a whip and before she knew it, she was pulled right off her feet, unknowingly had released pearl. Amethyst flung the great warrior face first into the sand at her feet. Jasper retaliated with a swift uppercut catching amethyst off guard as she went soaring backward from the force. Jasper turned to face Pearl again, but noticed another opponent that hadn't yet struck, he had a shield and was standing there watching her…

"Wait, another male gem?" Jasper asked very confused.

"Yeah, so what?" Steven asked, forgetting a male gem was not a common sight.

Jasper spawned her helmet and faced Steven. Steven didn't dare show any fear against this foe, instead he raised his shield, preparing for what was to come. Jasper angled her arm back and with everything she had she threw a punch that connected. Steven had been knocked off his feet from such force, he got up quickly, but not quick enough, Jasper was already lifting him off the ground by his shirt. She removed her helmet while she smiled.

"You've lost, boy." She said almost laughing.

Soon after, she head butted Steven, knocking him out instantly, she then dropped him and turned toward Pearl to finish what she had started…

Garnet and Degran were still at a standoff, Garnet was so focused she was oblivious to the battle going on behind her. She maintained eye contact with Degran, waiting for him to make a move. She had all the patience in the world, and her head was level, she was prepared for anything Degran could throw her way. The only movement he made was an eye movement, he looked right past her to the battle going on with Jasper. He stared for a moment, she thought he was going to ignore her and attack her friends. Instead he slowly put his hands down, he stood straight up, and faced her completely.

"They need help." Degran said.

Garnet was a little startled, his voice was intimidating to an extent, sounded much lighter in her vision. Degran visibly turned his head to look at something, Garnet found herself trying to see what that something was. What she saw made her fist clench. Jasper had just knocked Steven out, and left him lying in the sand. Garnet was ready to take off after Jasper.

"Wait! I have a plan if you really want to help them." Degran said.

"… I'm listening." Garnet said, her tone showed the frustration.

Pearl had her spear ready for combat, with a tear in her eye about Steven getting hurt, she was ready to give it her all. Amethyst was still incapacitated from the outrageous blow Jasper delivered. Jasper stopped a few feet away from her. Pearl clenched her spear, waiting for the first move. Jasper again angled her arm for a devastating strike, in a mere second her fist was a blur flying through the air right at Pearl. Time seemed to slow around Pearl, she was tired of being thrown around, tired of being the weakest link, just tired of not being strong enough. She was not going to let some random oversized gym rat make a fool out of her. Pearl sidestepped the mini freight train Jasper would call her fist, just barely ducking under it. She quickly charged her spear, and fired and arrow shaped energy projectile right into Jaspers side, Jasper slid in the sand somehow staying on her feet but groaned from the pain. There was a large scorch mark where Pearl hit her.

Jasper was aware this Pearl was not susceptible to an upfront attack, she had to strategize her moves. She jumped in the air, at first Pearl was prepared for an upfront attack, she held her spear ready to strike her down. Jasper landed behind pearl and rolled very quickly to her feet, she turned and charge her spin dash flew towards Pearl. Pearl jumped to try and clear the flaming fury, but Jasper unfurled, flipped and landed on her feet. Jasper had had enough, she raised her foot and stomped the ground hard enough to make a shockwave of sand and dust, before Pearl could regain her vision Jasper was mid strike, a right hook to Pearl's rib made her stumble backwards. Jasper's monstrous hand then grabbed Pearl's arm and slung her at least two dozen feet, leaving Pearl, not able to get up, dazed from the impact. She could only lay there and listen to the sand under Jaspers feet as she got closer.

Jasper finally stood over her defeated opponent, ready to deliver the crushing blow. As she clenched her fist, she saw her target was the forehead, to vanquish this Pearl once and for all.

"Did you think this would go differently?" Jasper asked, with a sinister smile.

"Well, since a might Jasper was getting beat by a mere Pearl, yeah I saw it going differently." Pearl taunted.

"Cute. Trying to be tough, when you lay there in defeat." Jasper said.

"It may be over for me. But not for you…" Pearl said with a smile on her face.

There was a small crunch sound.

"Huh?" Jasper had let out.

As soon as Jasper turned to investigate the sound, she was surprised to have a caught a gauntlet to the face from Garnet. Jasper went flying across the beach, before she could reach the ground on her own, Degran appeared almost out of thin air from above and with both feet planted in her chest within a split second she was drilled into the ground. She felt of rush of pain and weakness, she knew if this kept up she'd have to retreat to her gem, and she was as good as done.

They're teaming up now? Jasper asked herself. As Degran leapt backward to space himself from his opponent, as Jasper slowly stood, beaten, weak, vulnerable. She had to escape, it irritated her to her soul that she had to retreat from the fight, but the odds were against her. Her back was to the water, she could use it, thered be no way to track her, or she could try to take flight, it'd be faster, but it wouldn't be hard for Degran to keep up with her with his speed capabilities. She began backing up to the water, slowly submerging deeper into the dark blue abyss to eventually disappear from view.

Degran watched the water, preparing for her to emerge again at any moment, the gems did the same. After a few moments that seemed to drag on for a lot longer, Degran faced the gems. Pearl, ready for a fight, somehow obtaining this badass mentality she had, was ready to fight to the bitter end. Amethyst, was battle ready but still dazed after the brute beating she took from Jasper. Steven still laid unconscious behind others. Garnet however didn't see Degran as enemy at the moment, he helped her save her friends, he had many chances to kill them, especially being occupied and weakened by Jasper but he didn't. She could only she was making the right choice.

Garnet dropped her hands to her sides and removed her gauntlets, Degran slowly raised his head, not expecting the gesture. Whilst the other gems also weren't expecting such an action from Garnet, even though she did it, they didn't follow suite.

"Thank you." Garnet said.

"No need to thank me, you saved your friends. Not I." Degran replied.

"But you were willing to help, and didn't kill us when you had many chances too." Garnet pointed out.

"Even with that, don't think this makes us friends, we're merely allies. You don't fight for homeworld, neither do I. I hope that small amount of trust won't be betrayed." Degran said in a serious tone.

"It won't be betrayed, I can promise that. But, does that mean you're on our side?" Garnet asked.

"That depends." Degran said

"On?" Garnet pried.

"If I can trust you or not, the Diamonds want me dead, and as you can see im not going down without a gruesome fight. So if you're lying about your affiliation with Homeworld, I will not hesitate to end you all." Degran warned.

"Our goal is to protect this world from the clutches of Homeworld. At all costs we will stop the Diamonds from harming this planet. So when I say, we want nothing to do with the Diamonds, I mean it." Garnet spoke, her face showing only conviction that she was telling the truth.

"Good." Degran said, satisfaction in his voice, but not on his face.

"How do we know we can trust YOU?" Pearl butted in.

"Because I have no reason to lie to you, if I wanted you dead I would just kill you." Degran said blatantly.

"Yeah, of course you could, but you could have a different goal we're unaware of." Pearl said, making a valid point.

Garnet and Amethyst stood only pondering the conversation going on, Garnet didn't really think about other possibilities.

"Once again, if I had other intentions on this world, I would just eradicate you and move on." Degran said.

This time Pearl, couldn't formulate a response. She was still uneasy though.

"But what I will say, is the Diamonds aren't going to let this go, once they see Jasper's ship has been out of contact long enough they'll send others, more of a challenge than that Jasper." Degran pointed out.

"We'll be ready for them." Steven said

Pearl and Amethyst whipped around at the sound of his voice, his left eye was swollen, almost closed shut. But even with the wound his voice stilled showed bravery and motivation. Degran smirked, not enough for the gems to notice. He was impressed with the kid's strength.

"Good, I'm sure the Diamonds will give us plenty of chances to test our might." Degran said, as he looked up into the star littered night sky.

" _ **Soon, the Diamonds will face a permanent defeat."**_


End file.
